Even on Fed day, market to see sales

The municipal market will see some supply head its way on Wednesday despite the Federal Open Market Committee meeting underway in Washington.

The Federal Reserve is expected to hike interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day meeting in the afternoon. The market, which has priced in a rate increase, will focus mostly on the Summary of Economic Projections to see if members' projections for next year have changed.

The 10-year muni benchmark yield fell to 2.310% on Wednesday from the final read of 2.329% on Tuesday, according to Municipal Bond Information Services. The MBIS 30-year benchmark muni yield decreased to 2.793% from 2.802%.

The MBIS benchmark index, which is comprised of investment-grade municipal securities, is updated hourly on the Bond Buyer Data Workstation.

U.S. Treasuries were stronger on Wednesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury dropped to 1.82% from 1.84%, the 10-year Treasury yield declined to 2.38% from 2.42% and the yield on the 30-year Treasury decreased to 2.76% from 2.80%.

Top-rated municipal bonds finished weaker on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year benchmark muni general obligation rose four basis points to 2.05% from 2.01% on Monday, while the 30-year GO yield gained four basis points to 2.68% from 2.64%, according to the final read of MMD’s triple-A scale.

On Monday, the 10-year muni-to-Treasury ratio was calculated at 85.4% compared with 84.3% on Monday, while the 30-year muni-to-Treasury ratio stood at 96.4% versus 95.3%, according to MMD.

Primary marketIn the competitive arena on Wednesday, the Board of Regents of the University of Houston System will sell $324.36 million of Series 2017C consolidate revenue and refunding bonds.

The deal is rated Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service and AA by S&P Global Ratings.

In the negotiated sector, Citigroup is set to price the Colorado Public Finance Authority’s $196 million of Series 2017 revenue bonds subject to the alternative minimum tax for the Denver International Airport’s Great Hall project.

The deal is rated BBB by S&P and Fitch Ratings.

JPMorgan Securities is expected to price Oregon’s $108.8 million Series 2017UV general obligation veterans welfare bonds.

The deal is rated Aa1 by Moody’s and AA-plus by S&P and Fitch.

Since 2007, the Beaver State has issued roughly $5.45 billion of bonds, with the most issuance before this year occurring in 2015 when it sold $712 million of bonds. The state saw a low year of issuance in 2009 when it sold $107 million.

Data appearing in this article from Municipal Bond Information Services, including the MBIS municipal bond index, is available on The Bond Buyer Data Workstation. Click here for a brief tour of the Workstation, or contact Vanessa Kim at 212-803-8474 for more information.

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